Aug 21, 2008, Ao Nang, KrabiYati, Alia, Baizura & Izmir
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Dec 16, 2008 Peace Laguna, Ao Nang, KrabiIzmir with his helper Yati
We have a good helper, Yati, who came back 5 years ago from 'retirement' when she heard that Izmir was not well. All in, she has been with us for 15 years. May Allah bless her and her family with His barakah. In no way can we ever find it enough to repay her for the love she has given Izmir and the rest of our children. God bless her.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Dec 16, 2008 Peace Laguna, Ao Nang, KrabiIzmir - living with duchenne muscular dystrophy
A picture of Izmir in front of the pond where some of the chalets are located. Our next trip may not be driving any more, unless we are planning to do it like Bob and his family. It is getting to tiring for Izmir and the rest of the kids, or probably more so for the mother. We'll find more interesting vacationing to do for Izmir. His next scheduled stemcell transplantation (and the third) will be on Mar 8, 2008. I hope somewhere along the way, something will reverse his condition. I have been keeping tabs of all latest developments in researches towards finding the cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. It is a devastatingly debilitating genetic disease that renders the muscles necrotic gradually, starting from the waist down and would later move upwards from the waist. So it will affect his pulmonary functions. The stemcell transplantation has somewhat slowed down the necrotic process but is still a long way from reversing it. There is one method done by Prof Zang Xi at the Sun Yut Sen university 5 years ago which may get closer to the solution but the risk is higher because it involves the administration of immuno-suppressive drugs before carrying out the stemcell transplantation. Stemcells here are obtained from fresh cord-blood. The stemcells given will migrate and take-over the marrow functions thereby producing new blood with a different genetic structure thus eliminating the defective genes. But I have to first see the 2 boys who went through the research 5 years ago. If they were successfully treated, I will ask for the procedure and do it on Izmir. the risk is not so much in the stemcells themselves because, contrary to most believes, cord-blood stemcells are without antigens or markers which means that the is no problem of rejection. The risk is in the administration of the immunosuppressive drugs which I believe is 'chemo'. Ideally, I should wait when the risk of the disease outweighs the risk of treatment but that may be too late to reverse the disease. So, I am at a loss here because I cannot find any literature related to this.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Saturday Dec 13, 2008 JuassehArrival of the bride and bridegroom. They've had a lot of practice already...no longer nervous or shy. I mean look at him, grinning all the way!! And look at their attire...it must be freaking hot. So I told them that if they want to make a lot of money, design or create some kind of air-conditioning for these wedding attires.
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